Among the highlights are “six monumental watercolours by Pauline Bewick which represent Irish wildlife”, with subjects including the salmon, the wolfhound and the hare, each estimated at €3,000–€5,000.

Public interest

Art collectors aside, the auction is likely to attract public interest from Anglo “souvenir hunters” seeking a memento of the country’s most expensive and catastrophic business failure.

Among the less expensive lots are a painting of the Cork offices of Anglo Irish Bank by Kevin Sanquest (estimated at €200-€300) and a framed, signed photograph of Paul O’Connell playing rugby for Munster (€100-€150).

Anglo had previously donated to the Irish Museum of Modern Art 18 artworks – paintings and sculpture worth an estimated €160,000 – along with the signage which hung over its Dublin headquarters.

Among the other bailed out banks, AIB has donated its art collection to the State, while Bank of Ireland is disposing of its art collection through a series of auctions. It has promised to ring-fence the proceeds for cultural philanthropy.